The Case against Marine Mammals in Captivity - The Humane ...

held for two years in a tank hidden by jungle, a period during whichthree dolphins may have died.323 On Manatí Park’s website, it is stated that “Manatí Park, in collaborationwith various National and International Institutions, develops educational,research and reproduction programs on the autochthonousspecies of the Dominican Republic that are in danger of extinction.”http://www.manatipark.com/eng/naturaleza.htm. This is yet anotherexample of a dolphinarium or aquarium trying to camouflage itsunethical activities with a conservation and education veneer.Solomon Islands324 G. Ross et al., “Report of a fact-finding visit to the Solomon Islands,”9–12 September 2003, IUCN Report (2003), www.iucn-vsg.org/Solomons%20Report%20VSG-CSG.pdf.325 Parties to CITES may trade with non-Parties, but only if non-Partiesmeet the treaty’s requirements.326 Omata et al., “Antibodies against Toxoplasma gondii in the Pacific bottlenosedolphin (Tursiops aduncus) from the Solomon Islands,” 965.327 Ross et al., “Report of a fact-finding visit to the Solomon Islands,” 7.328 Besides being in violation of the CITES agreement, the SolomonIslands dolphins were being held in conditions in Cancún that violatedthe conditions of the import permit granted by Mexican authorities.One of the conditions was to keep the imported “exotic” dolphins(which belong to the species Tursiops aduncus, as opposed to Tursiopstruncatus—the species that was already being held in the Cancúndolphinarium) separate from the park’s existing dolphin population—this was not done. The dolphins were never properly quarantinedand were kept in adjacent pens, allowing the possible transmissionof non-endemic pathogens and diseases.336 The Review of Significant Trade is a process whereby trade inAppendix II species is examined to determine if exporting Parties areissuing appropriate NDFs. If the Animals Committee concludes there isreason for concern, it makes recommendations to the exporting Party,such as what scientific studies need to be done. These recommendationsare passed on to the CITES Standing Committee. If approved bythe Standing Committee, the recommendations are provided to theParties; Parties must comply with the recommendations by establisheddeadlines or the Standing Committee may recommend to other Partiesthat trade in CITES-listed species with that Party should be avoided.CITES Resolution Conf. 12.8 (Rev. CoP13).337 Animals Committee 23, Doc. 8.5.1.338 See endnote 59 for more on this issue.339 See, for example, http://www.rnzi.com/pages/news.php?op=read&id=39390.340 M. Berman, email message to N. Rose, 30 June 2008.341 R. R. Reeves and J. Horokou, “Non-detriment finding for Tursiops aduncusin the Solomon Islands,” WG-5-Mammals, Case Study 2, November2008. Horokou works in the Solomon Islands Ministry of the Environmentand co-authored the following statement: “Much more and better-qualityinformation than presently available will be needed on thedistribution, population structure, removals (bycatch, hunted, live-captured)and numbers of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins in the captureregion before a credible NDF can be made and additional collectionsfor export, or exports of animals already collected, are authorized,”11. Yet despite the admission by this government official that any NDFfor Solomon Islands T. aduncus is currently not credible, within onemonth of this case study’s presentation, seven more dolphins leftSolomon Islands with a CITES export permit and were acceptedby the Philippines.329 “Carcasses add to dolphin export controversy,” Associated Press,18 October 2007, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21344926/.330 Randall Reeves, the chair of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group(CSG), Frances Gulland, a member of the IUCN Veterinary SpecialistGroup, and Robert Brownell, a member of the IUCN CSG, wrote toWillem Wijnstekers, the Secretary-General of CITES, stating, “We arenot aware that any credible, peer-reviewed studies of bottlenosedolphins have been undertaken in the Solomon Islands since 2003.Accordingly, we have not changed the conclusion we reached in2003 that a non-detriment finding under CITES is not possible for thesepopulations, and that exports should not take place,” 2. R. Reeveset al., letter to W. Wijnstekers, 13 June 2007.331 CITES Resolution Conf. 14.7.332 Office of the Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources, SolomonIslands Government, “Supplemental information in support of anon-detriment finding for Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiopsaduncas) [sic],” 10 October 2007.333 http://www.cites.org/eng/news/sundry/2007/dolphin.shtml.334 http://www.ssn.org/Documents/news_articles_SI_exports_EN.htm.335 Out of 28 dolphins sent to Mexico in 2003, at least 12 had died by early2008. This is an exceptionally high mortality rate in only five years fora species that can live 40 or more years. Senator J. Legorreta O., letterto Minister M. B. Tan, sent 7 May 2008.76